Have these procedures been vetted by animal welfare authorities?

Yes. The use of neck collars on the swans has been approved by the Animal Experimentation and Ethics Committee of the University of Melbourne, the Australian Bird and Bat Banding Scheme, the Department of Sustainability and Environment (Victoria), and Parks Victoria. The RSPCA and Wildlife Victoria are also aware of the program and do not consider the collars to be a welfare issue.

Gallery

Did you know?

An adult male swan is called a cob (from Middle English cobbe (leader of a group). An adult female swan is called a pen, and baby swans are called cygnets (from the Latin word cygnus ("swan") and the Old French suffix -et ("little").

2015-05-11T02:20:03+00:00

An adult male swan is called a cob (from Middle English cobbe (leader of a group). An adult female swan is called a pen, and baby swans are called cygnets (from the Latin word cygnus ("swan") and the Old French suffix -et ("little").

http://www.myswan.org.au/index.php/testimonials/15/

The Black Swan is protected under the Australian National Parks and Wildlife Act, 1974. It is evaluated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

2015-05-11T02:23:39+00:00

The Black Swan is protected under the Australian National Parks and Wildlife Act, 1974. It is evaluated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

http://www.myswan.org.au/index.php/testimonials/32/

A colony of Black Swans in Dawlish, Devon has become so well associated with the town that the bird has been the town's emblem for

2015-05-11T02:23:29+00:00

A colony of Black Swans in Dawlish, Devon has become so well associated with the town that the bird has been the town's emblem for

http://www.myswan.org.au/index.php/testimonials/31/

The current global population of black swans is estimated to be up to 500,000 individuals.

2015-05-11T02:23:19+00:00

The current global population of black swans is estimated to be up to 500,000 individuals.

http://www.myswan.org.au/index.php/testimonials/30/

Black swans occur over large parts of Australia, with estimates of their range varying from 1 to 10 million square kilometers.

2015-05-11T02:23:10+00:00

Black swans occur over large parts of Australia, with estimates of their range varying from 1 to 10 million square kilometers.